The mayor of Rouen, one of the cities in France now under a nighttime curfew, says the health sector is exhausted and needs more help.
Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol told CNN that he knows the city must apply by the curfew rules, but he foresees economic damage.
Asked if the central government is giving enough financial support to the French cities now under curfew, Mayer-Rossignol said, “You need the two legs: you can have restrictions but if you have strong restrictions you must have strong incentives and strong help.”
About 20 million people – roughly a third of France’s population – in the capital Paris and regions of Aix-en-Provence, Marseille, Grenoble, Montpellier, Toulouse, Saint Etienne, Lille, Lyon and Rouen are affected by the 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew expected to last a month.
He said that although they do have financial help “there are some specific sectors where help is desperately needed, especially the health sector”.
“The big difference with the confinement a few months ago is that when it started in March – April the whole health sector was fully mobilized and strongly committed to do everything they could to battle – and currently they are just exhausted. So we need more help,” Mayer-Rossignol added.